Gyan Bharatam Mission

IAS Current Affairs

7 months ago

Gyan Bharatam Mission Explained

Source: PIB
GS I: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times

Overview

Why in the News?

Gyan Bharatam Mission was launched in 9 June 2025.

The mission aims to use digital tools like virtual museums, online archives, and a National Digital Repository (NDR) to digitise and showcase Indian Manuscripts.
Technologies such as AI, cloud platforms, and mobile apps will enable easy access, research, translation, and monetisation, while ensuring preservation and wider dissemination of knowledge.

Primary Objectives

To identify all Indian manuscripts.
Collect metadata and prepare a comprehensive list of manuscripts preserved by institutions and individuals.
Ensure the proper conservation of rare and important manuscripts.
Implement a standardized framework for the scientific preservation and conservation of manuscripts held by institutions and individuals.
Create a National Digital Repository (NDR) for all identified manuscripts.
Facilitate monetization for the benefit of thecustodians of the identified manuscripts.
Publish selected manuscripts for the wider dissemination of knowledge.
Provide controlled access to manuscripts in the National Digital Repository (NDR) for research, translation, publication, and other scholarly activities under a monetization model.
Establish a physical storage facility for rare and important manuscripts using long-term archival materials such as archival paper, plastic imaging, wafer-fiche, etc.

Funding

Allocated of Gyan Bharatam Mission for the current financial year (2025-2026) is Rs. 60 Crore.

Scholarly Leadership & Institutional Strengthening
Technological Integration such as the use of AI, blockchain, cloud infrastructure and Application Programming Interface. for integration
Conservation & Capacity Building like new conservation labs for palm leaf, birch bark, and paper manuscripts.
Public Engagement activity throuh development of educational modules for schools and universities, Immersive VR/AR experiences showcasing manuscript heritage and hosting of Manuscript Melas and nationwide social media campaigns.

Phases of Gyan Bharatam Mission

Phase 1: Institutional setup, pilot digitisation, training rollout.
Phase 2: National repository launch, tech platforms go live.
Phase 3: Outreach scaling, integration with national and international archives.

They are handwritten documents, including literature, science, philosophy, and art, considered valuable if they are at least 75 years old.
Manuscripts are mostly written on paper, bark, cloth, metal, or palm leaf.
National Mission for Manuscripts was established in February 2003 and identified around 10 million manuscripts.
Manuscripts are found in hundreds of different languages and scripts.
They reflect ancient traditions, document key historical events, and serve as primary sources for research in fields like literature, religion, and art.

Launched by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India.
A unique project in its programme and mandate, the Mission seeks to unearth and preserve the vast manuscript wealth of India.
India possesses an estimated of ten million manuscripts, probably the largest collection in the world.
These cover a variety of themes, textures and aesthetics, scripts, languages, calligraphies, illuminations and illustrations.
National Mission for Manuscripts is a national-level comprehensive initiative that caters to the needs of conserving manuscripts and disseminating knowledge contained therein.

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